The Most Important Virtue

It isn’t love.

It’s not faith, either.

Not humility, not joy, not peace, not patience.

It gives these other virtues legs. It carries them into battle on its shoulders. It picks them up when they are wounded. It soothes them when they cry.

And then it takes a back seat while they take the crown.

It is courage.

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” — C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Courage is the fire that keeps love loving when the heart calls for bitterness.

Courage is the engine that keeps faith faithful when the road ahead is unknown.

Courage is the paint that keeps joy joyful when the world has lost its colour.

Courage is the tear that grieves when distraction would be easier.

Courage is the law that arrests when the sulks make a home invasion.

Courage speaks when others wallow.

Courage restrains when others blab.

Courage asks when others weasel.

Courage waits when others act.

And it acts when others wait.

A Christian without courage is like a bike without pedals — speeding downhill with sophomoric confidence, before swinging to an ungainly stop the moment life takes an uphill climb.

“If you faint in the day of distress, Your strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10).

Take the next step. Push the pedals. Actually do it.